@Wood: Yeah, definitely. The local televised news, speaking with eyewitnesses, has confirmed there were 2 explosions about 15 seconds apart, just past the marathon's finish line. Newscasters seem to be cautious to not say bomb.

Wood, sorry, but are you trying to make the point of "hey, how come people aren't worried too much about THESE explosions? Eh? Yeah! America isn't the center of the world!"?

Because if so, do you have nothing better to do than to shame people, many like me, who are trying to get a hold of friends who live there and may have attended/participated in the event in Boston, for not being incredibly up on the news?

I mean, point taken, but the motive behind presenting that news, to shame and point out ignorance rather than inform, annoys the piss out of me.

The two runners that I know were in the race were out of range when the bombs went off, and are unhurt. No word on their mental state. I also have a number of former colleagues in the Boston/Cambridge area, and I've e-mailed for assurance that they're OK. I hope that you make contact with your friends, and that they have good news for you.

The reason bombings like this make news is because they're a massive anomaly in those particular geographical areas. Bombings in Mogadishu or Iraq or other politically unstable areas don't make the same kind of impact because, guess what, they're in politically unstable regions.

This doesn't mean the loss of life is any less tragic. Obviously. But if you think that the events are the same? You're deluding yourself. Equally tragic events, but the circumstances of the one that happens in a generally peaceful climate are far more unusual. That doesn't make it better or worse, but it does mean it's going to get more attention.

Additonally, the Boston marathon is a huge deal. It's one of the first marathons of the season, and it's actually a state holiday. Most people in the state don't have to work. Many, many people come out to watch the marathon. It's an important regional event, not just for the runners. Comparatively, this is like someone bombing a parade. Of course it's going to make international news.

That's all I'll say for now, because otherwise I'll just start yelling on the internet and no one wants that.

No offense to anyone here (obviously, it's Whitechapel, hello) but I don't mind Wood's posts. It could be as innocuous as 'in other bomb-related news' to perfectly poignant as 'isn't our news-media culture weird.' Maybe we need to define our distances a little: those of us who are interested in sociopolitical implications in one corner and those of us with personal connections in another. Plenty of internet-space for both. I definitely didn't read any shaming in it.

On the note of the Boston Marathon being a state holiday, thanks for filling me in. I wondered about possible symbolisms but haven't seen much motive-speculation in the press yet. (Admittedly not poring over stories either. I prefer much of my news to be WC-filtered.)

I'd like to point out that technically the holiday is not the marathon itself. The holiday is "Patriots day" which commemorates the first battles of the revolutionary war. The marathon is just the biggest event. I'd hate to speculate on motive, but that could be pretty symbolic.

Personally, I don't think there is any shame in being more deeply affected by an event that happens essentially in your backyard than by something that happens halfway across the world, no matter how awful.

@Oldhat : No, that is not what I was trying to say, or else I would actually have said it. Thanks for not putting words in my mouth. It's just that there seems to be string of bombings in several places over the world at the same time, two of them being related to Al Qaida. The bombings in Iraq and Somalia, even for politically unstable places, are particularly severe and all of a sudden it looks like violence is erupting all over the world and it's pretty scary.

I don't think there is a point in trying to tell which situtations is the more tragic, a national celebration in a peaceful country suddenly struck by violence, murder and fear or war-torn countries afflicted by a decade of conflict suffering yet one more instance of blind bloodshed.

And the fact is I didn't know actually about this Mogadishu bombing until someone on Twitter pointed it out even though it's not really that much further away from my home than Boston. Yeah, the media and even the public, including myself, get used to violence erupting in those places in it ceases to be important in our eyes, probably because we have no idea what we could possibly do about it.

I'm rambling, but I"m overcome by feelings of sadness, fear, anger and guilt, and I don't know how to deal with all that.

I"m overcome by feelings of sadness, fear, anger and guilt, and I don't know how to deal with all that.

Recognize you are not alone in this. It's a horrible thing and emotions are running understandably high all over. There's no shame in feeling empathy for victims of violence, wherever they are.Sympathies and best wishes to all those with family or friends caught up in it. Bear hugs to the Bostonians.

The mood in the city is somber and tense. Some are a bit pissed off. Some are a bit more stoic. Had some friends running in the marathon who were nearby when it happened but are safe. A coworker had been near the location of the first blast but he and his wife and friends had just left 20 mins earlier so he was pretty weirded out by it all.

I met up with a friend after work and got some drinks and food at a very crowded bar. I found that endearing. People wanted to be around other people, instead of avoiding each other.

I don't post here much anymore but I still pop in to look around, lurk, and learn something new.Still, I just wanted to stop in and say Thank you, Whitechapel.